biography

I am a Lithuanian pianist and musicologist and have lived much of my life outside Lithuania, spending my childhood in the then Lithuania-in-exile capital, Chicago, and much of my student and early adult life in Berlin and London. I was the first Lithuanian émigré to study in Lithuania and meet the new generation of composers, poets and artists there. After graduating with a baccalaureate in concert piano and German literature, I studied piano at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Paul von Schilhawsky, and received my doctorate in musicology under Carl Dahlhaus at the Technische Universität, Berlin. In 1978 I was awarded a full professorship at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hamburg, specialising in the interpretation of opera, art song and oratorio, as well as languages and music history for singers and international competitions. Besides playing concerts, I have written four books including TYLA about the contemporary Lithuanian composer Osvaldas Blakauskas, in addition to numerous articles on music and the arts, many of them about Bronius Kutavičius. Since 1991 I have divided my time between Vilnius, Hamburg and Berlin. I am married and have two children - Indrė Miriam and Jonas Antanas.

languages

fluent Lithuanian, English, German, French, Italian

good command of Russian

pronunciation of Spanish, Polish, Czech

honours

Curator for Lithuanian Cultural Affairs concerning Lithuania´s entrance into the European Union